The spinal cord can become compressed due to a variety of pathological conditions, thereby causing myelopathy and subsequent pain, weakness, or paralysis. One way to alleviate spinal cord compression is to expand the spinal canal, typically by displacing bone, such as the lamina, that surrounds the spinal cord. This procedure, generally referred to as laminoplasty, typically involves making two types of cuts into the lamina, a complete osteotomy through the lamina on one side of the spine and a partial osteotomy, or “green stick”, on the contra-lateral lamina, which preserves the bottom cortex and creates a flexible hinge in the bone. This bridge of bone is then levered open about the hinge and fixed with bone graft, plates, and screws. Screws are often driven into this somewhat unstable mass of bone, which could pose a risk of injury to the spinal cord or an opportunity to fracture the green stick cut.